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Friday, July 28, 2017

If Transformation Works Why do the Rakyat Suffer?

A Kadir Jasin

PROLOGUE: On July 25, while
officiating at Invest Malaysia 2017, the Prime Minister, (Datuk Seri I
Mappadulung Daeng Mattimung Karaeng Sandrobone Sultan Abdul Jalil) Mohd Najib
Abdul Razak, bragged about the success of his economic transformation and took
a swipe at the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib, claiming credit and blaming Dr Mahathir

His key message: Transformation strategy works and
Malaysia is in good hands. Investment keeps flowing in, jobs created, inflation
and unemployment remains low, and GDP per capita is nearing high-income
threshold. Only BN can provide stability.

A senior and illustrious member of our KKA (Kedai Kopi Assembly/Coffee
Shop Assembly) wrote to me to respond to the Prime Minister.

[REMINDER.
Anonymous comments will not be published.]

I publish below and in full his analysis.

PM Argument
1:
Malaysia is getting richer. Between 2009
and 2016, Gross National Income has increased by nearly 50 percent, and GNI per
capita using the Atlas method increased to US$9,850, and based on the World
Bank’s latest high income threshold of US$12,235, we have narrowed the gap
towards the high income target from 33 percent to 19 percent.

Comment: Data shows that the 19% gap is the same as in
2012. So basically, we are in the same spot in the past five years. Even if we
compare our performance in the past two years, we are actually moving
backwards, not forward towards high-income status. The gap in 2015 was 15%, but
now it is 19%. In any case, being high-income is pointless. Focus should be on
a developed nation status, inclusiveness and sustainability.

PM Argument
2: Some 2.26 million jobs have been created, which
represents 69 percent of the 3.3-million target we want to reach by 2020.
Clearly, we are making the right progress towards those goals.

Comment: (A) Most of the job
created were low-income jobs, which would not make us high-income workers or
high-income nation. Data from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) shows that
between 2010 and 2014, the share of
skilled workers in total employment has in fact declined, from 27.6% in
2010 to 25.5% in 2014. The creation of mostly labour-intensive and
low-productivity employment in the country pushed up the share of low-skilled
worker to total employment from 9.5% to 15% during the same period. We create
low-income jobs more than high-income jobs.

(B)Salary remains low. Last year, wages and salaries only
grew by less than one per cent, or just RM17 in real terms. Half of the workers
in Malaysia earn less than RM2,000 per month. For fresh graduates, starting salaries have remained largely stagnant since
2007.

PM Argument
3: Inflation and unemployment have been kept
low.

Comment: Unemployment remains
relatively high. Last year the number of unemployed went up by 12%. Youth unemployment rate was at 10.7% - higher than
10.2% in 2016, despite that the economy still growing. In fact, among those
with tertiary education, the unemployment rate is higher at 15.3% compared with
youth without tertiary education at 9.8%. Inflation is going up. Last year it was
2.1%. This year’s 1st quarter was already 4.3%.

PM
Argument 4: Our currency, the ringgit, has
been described by Bloomberg recently as, and I quote, “easily the strongest
major Asian currency this quarter, climbing twice as much as the next best, the
Chinese yuan.

Comments: If we look at the wider horizon, our currency has weakened by 42% against the US dollar between
2011 and 2016. Last year, it depreciated by 4.5% and the year before, that it
was down by a whopping 23%.The
ringgit has also weakened against currencies of poorer countries in the region.
In the past two years - 2015 and 2016 - our currency dropped by 14% against the
Philippine’s peso, 15% against Thailand’s baht, and 16% against
Indonesian’s rupiah. Remember the ringgit was at 3.09 against the dollar in
2012.

PM Argument 5: the equity market there were net inflows of
RM11 billion in the first half of 2017, compared to RM3 billion of net outflows
during the whole of 2016.

Comment: Again, we need to widen the
horizon. Between 2014 and 2016, KLCI
already lost 13% of its market value.

EPILOGUE: My own feeling is the Prime Minister was being selective and,
in doing so, had insulted the intelligence of the audience. Or he was duped by
his speech writers into believing that his audience was made of idiots and the rakyat
are fools.

He asked his listeners to look past 1MDB
but he is afraid to debate the 1MDB’s so-called lapses even in Parliament where
he has more members than the Opposition.

As he bragged about the FDI inflows he
ignored the fact that the very investors, who helped put this country on the
road to industrialisation, are leaving in droves.

Of course he wasn’t about to acknowledge
that the improved ratings by the global agencies happened at the expense of the
people.

He was given a good rating by these
agencies because of his Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) is pro-market. Like
him, these people didn't care that the GST had raised prices and impoverished
the people. They only cared about profits and their fat bonuses.

47 comments:

"Rakyat suffer"...? Which rakyat are you talking about? Mahathir's cronies who now can't get handouts and concessions to Ali Baba anymore?

Or is this the bums with low qualifications, no skills but want starting salary of RM3.5k?

For me, things have become better and better since Pak Lah's time. Went up much more when Najib became PM. Various business opportunities around for those willing to work hard. Not those who depend on handouts and comcessions.

You want me to change this good life so that Mukhriz can become PM? NO WAY!!

this is what happens when u leave 'power point' experts 2 prepare n u just read it out wthout proper understanding.

I still remember during d last days of saddam hussien. his information minister Muhammad saeed al- sahhaf told d press that Iraq is still winning d war despite d fact that d American soldiers were a step away from his ministry.

he was captured but later released n now reportedly living in d UAE. saddam was later captured while living in n undergroung bunker n later hanged.

"Pakistan's top court on Friday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office after a damning corruption probe into his family wealth, cutting short his third stint in power and ordering a criminal investigation of his family.

In a surprise move, the court also dismissed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, one of Sharif's closest allies who has been credited with steering the economy to its fastest pace of growth in a decade.

But Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, which has a majority in parliament, is expected to name a new prime minister to hold office until elections due next year.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Sharif was not fit to hold office after an investigative panel alleged his family could not account for its vast wealth.

"He is no more eligible to be an honest member of the Parliament, and he ceases to be holding the office of prime minister," Judge Ejaz Afzal Khan said in court."

But in Malaysia, MO1 is still in power - and still stealing our money.

1. Now, I recalled, sometime ago, I was asking this street boy what's on his hand...it was a "Transformer" toy!...if I am not mistaken, he said something about "robots changing shapes...good robots fighting evil robots to secure resources on earth"...something like that.

Tunku transformed the three distinct geographical regions into one region called "Malaysia"...that a deep transformation.

4. Tun transformed Malaysia from agrarian economy to industrial one...that's very deep too as it involved fundamental structural changes in our education system as well as the land usage to built factories.

5. Najib did not change the "rough diamond" into a "Pink Diamond"...no...no...no...he didn't do it....the works have been done for him by the previous PMs, with the exception of the sleeping one.

6. So, I don't know what is this so called Transformation stuffs Datuk is talking about?...seriously!...that's something new to me!...Damn, did I miss the boat or something? Again, all these bloody East Malaysians people is just a useless bunch of idiots!

7. Please don't expect a noodle seller like me to understand ok, knowing Najib's character, he is a guy who loves to simply "bury his head in the sand" as he speaks.

8. Just look at the number..."Inflation is going up. Last year (2016) it was 2.1%. This year’s 1st quarter was already 4.3%."...Datuk makan hempas padi ke atau makan rumput?..atau jilat "Pink Diamnond"?

9. Can someone enlighten us, what has been transformed?..economy?...education?...investment?...Police?..AG?..what?

10. Najib cannot "bury his head all the time"...so, as a simple yardsticks to measure his successes, tell us in plain language, did he managed to transform the Malay Institutions like Felda, FGV, Tabung Haji, LTAT, PNB, KWP, into successful corporate giants-Transformers to secure more resources for the Malays, or

7. GST and Tourism Tax...new taxes...for what?...the excuse that other countries have similar taxes won't sell...neither, the argument that UK etc has higher GST (VAT) than Malaysia is of any significance.

Look at the quality our services (schools, education, border security, Internet access, roads etc) and the fundamentals of our democratic system (the AG, the Police, BNM, MACC etc)...are they similar to UK, US, Norway, Finland, Japan?...if they are, than our GST is bloody cheap indead...I think we deserve to pay a minimum of 15-20%.

8. Collecting new taxes without improving services is very wrong...zalim nama nya!

9. So, what is this "high income target" that he is so proud of?...when the number of BR1M recipients keep on increasing?...when the value of our RM keep on falling?...when the cost of living spiraling upwards?

Regardless all the facts churned out to show how brilliant he has managing the economy, the fact is our foreign reserves stand less than 100 billion and national debts now at 907 billion, that is his glaring performance as finance minister actually. Gross mismanagement of country's finance.

When a crisis hits the economy, such as all of a sudden there's unexpected sanctions, an economic embargo or the currency nosedives into the abyss, it is our reserves which can save us from any kind of economic shock and calamities. If our foreign reserves stand at 97 billions, weak currency against the green back, how on earth can we weather the storm?

By churning out stuff like GNI, trade surplus, exports, capital market, praises from IMF and World Bank, is that the way you're measuring real economic performance?

Like Kadir Jasin said, if Transformation did work, why there's massive numbers of graduates waiting table at restaurants for the past several years? Why not enough high skill jobs created for the past year? Why prices skyrocketing out of control? Why massive budget cuts across the board each and every year?

All of these signal that the economy is doing well and government struggle to meet its obligations. We barely enough to get by year to year. Thanks to wasteful and imprudent spendings over the years.

"He asked his listeners to look past 1MDB but he is afraid to debate the 1MDB’s so-called lapses even in Parliament where he has more members than the Opposition.."

- I can't recall back in the early 90's, MPs with the likes of Lim Kit Siang or Tengku Razaleigh being prevented by the Speaker in august house from asking about Bank Negara forex loses. Nor all questions on the matter were rejected by the Speaker on the ground of subjudice. How time has changed...

"PM Argument 2: Some 2.26 million jobs have been created, which represents 69 percent of the 3.3-million target we want to reach by 2020. Clearly, we are making the right progress towards those goals."

1. That was the figure he quoted in July 25th 2017 while officiating at Invest Malaysia 2017.

2. 4 months earlier, during his keynote address at the 2017 Global Transformation Forum, at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on the 28/03/2017PM..

"Najib: 1.8 million jobs created by Malaysia’s NTP between 2010-2016"...(1)

3. In just 4 months, his figure changed by 460,000!

4. This guy is really amazing. Remember, he lied with 42 different explanations on his RM2.6 bil "Arab donation"...yet, not a single piece of document to prove...and, in front of local and international investors he lied again about his numbers.

Why would foreign investors even bother to come here in the first place? At the moment they don't want anything to do with Malaysia. The last thing foreign investors ever wanted was to keep their money in the thief's house!..

- Transformation plan by Najib is designed to confuse people...very much like the concept of 1Malaysia.

- There are many off-shots to this Transformation plan with various abbreviations that no one seems to have any clue...as any man on the street, no one knows.

- He wants to outdo Vision 2020 with his touch of Transformation plans and the latest of which is TN50...in fact, you can't get the grip of what he says and what he does.

- But, one thing is for sure...a credit must go to him....him alone...no one else, but him...he managed to transform Malaysia into a Kleptocracy...a nation of thieves and plunderers...and he is sitting on top of that piles of shit...and, that is quite an outstanding achievement!

- More so, he is supported by the most extreme religious political group in the country...PAS.

- Kleptocracy is neither a political nor a moral term as such that one can brush it aside, perhaps due to differences in ideology and opinions, but a very serious term with legal implications to MO1 and the nation.

- KARI has no intention to embarrass Malaysia.

- It has no intention to play politic either.

- It means business. It means MO1 has messed up with the legal justice system in the US, that is something he must not do...like we don't want others to mess up ours.

- Put the legal implication aside for a while, it creates distrust and uncertainties...and, lots of embarrassments to us ordinary Malaysians in the eyes of the world.

= For the first time in 54 years, in the history of this nation...slightly after 500 years of being colonized...

Najib has successfully transformed Malaysia into a Kleptocracy!

Congratulation Najib!

A nation of Malay Kleptocracy!

A nation of Islamic Kleptocracy!

Let's Celebrate the American style...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

The OECD’s most recent economic assessment of Malaysia stated, and I quote: “Malaysia is one of the most successful Southeast Asian economies… thanks to sound macroeconomic fundamentals and its success in transforming its economy into a well-diversified and inclusive one.”

- He's trying to take credit from someone else efforts here. Pretty much like the overhype MRT without giving due credit to the real guy who had laid the foundation of light rail system project in the country.

Actually who is the REAL guy who turned Malaysia into one of the most successful Southeast Asian economies? Whose the real guy who turned Malaysia from mere importer of commodities and raw materials in the 70's into manufacturing based economy?

Who is the real guy who successfully diversifying the economy? In the 70's more the 50 percent of workforce employed by the state. By the mid 1990's it went down to mere 30 percent as a result of massive growth in the private sectors of the economy. A decade after privatization policy put in place.

Who's the real guy who laid this massive fundamentals in our country's economy and made it resilient to withstand any challenge such as the volatility of comodity prices in the 80's?

I guess everyone knows who he is. Please give the credit where it's due. I rest my case..

2. Rating agencies, as the name implies, do rating of institutions and countries by making comparisons.

3. Some rating agencies like Bloomberg use actual quantitative numerical data which is hard to dispute because numbers don't lie.

Others use qualitative database like interviews to formulate its ranking. This type of rating opens to many interpretations and disputes.

4. Having say that, policy and decision makers do depend on rating agencies to make well-informed decision...these are actually clients ("these people") to the rating agencies.

5. The most important thing about the rating is not the final result, but the "live components"...a sets of complex mathematical equations.

6. Under Najib, rating is abused to the extreme.

A good example of that was..."PM Argument 4: Our currency, the ringgit, has been described by Bloomberg..."

This kind of statement is not only misleading, but downright stupid.

Misleading in the sense that no one of the right mind, will quote currency trend in "a snapshot" manner because currency fluctuates by the seconds, very much like the shape of Mount Kinabalu.

Mr.PM, you are that stupid...people look at the trend...not, "a snapshot" of Ringgit.

The trend of RM sucks like you, Mr.PM!

This Chinese mama selling oranges in Pasar Malam, is far better than you are Mr.PM about the state of our Ringgit...no way, you can fool her!

7. We can excuse our PM as he failed in his academic...what about our future PM with a "Ph.D"?

"Zahid says Malaysian police rated best in Asean...July 27, 2017.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Police Department has been rated the best in Asean by an international body, according to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, DID NOT NAME the international body which had given the rating, or furnish any other details, The Star reported." (1)

- Now, that was the most stupid statement from the 2nd highest-ranking officer with a "Dr." to his name.

- Now, you put the two together...bingo!

- Believe you me, one of their wives, has an "Honorary Doctorate" from some Maningkabau whatever!

- By the way, Tun and his wife are real qualified doctors from a very reputable university...and, Azizah too.

8. The best way "to sell" Malaysia and what she has to offer is by adopting these ranking agencies...especially, our education system..."it will kill many birds with one stone"..better than what we can collect from the Tourism Tax, unless you are the "Pondan Padang Rengas" who miss the forest for the trees.

9. As it was not reported by mass media, for reasons known to them, our PM's good friend, China had in fact downgrading Malaysia...4 months before PM launched Invest Malaysia 2017.

6. Changing our economic fundamentals from manufacturing to services like massive constructions at Forest City, Bandar Malaysia, East Coast Railway Link, Pan Borneo etc...has a price tag that we all have to pay as it will create sudden socioeconomic and political imbalances.

- Datuk comment is relevant..."Comment: (A) Most of the job created were low-income jobs..The creation of mostly labour-intensive and low-productivity employment in the country pushed up the share of low-skilled worker to total employment from 9.5% to 15% during the same period. We create low-income jobs more than high-income jobs."

7. JackMa of AliBaba is more interested to help Chinese manufacturers selling cheap stuffs and keeping jobs in China...to him, MO1 has nothing to offer him, but he did not mind giving cheap publicity stunt to a guy like MO1!

8. JackMa is not part of the equation to create new jobs in services...well, I may be wrong...so prove me wrong...why not EPU come up with some numbers to enlighten us?

- dubious IPOs to enrich cronies. Example, FGV, where Felda settlers were cheated to pay a premium IPO price of RM4.55 during listing ahead of PRU13, only to see its value tumbled to as low as RM1.63...wiping off some RM15 billion in value!...leaving thousands of settlers still in debt!

1. Since Datuk brought up this subject of Najib's Economic Transformation Plan (ETP), I did some background check to familiarize myself on certain issues.

2. Launched on 25 September 2010, an initiative to turn Malaysia into a high income economy by the year of 2020...a 9-years economic plan so to speak.

3. PRU13 was held on the 5th May 2013. So, he was selling this ETP idea to win the election...not bad actually.

4. ETP original aim is to raise per capita income from US$6,700 (year 2010) to at least US$15,000 (by year 2020), meeting the World Bank's threshold for high income nation.

5. PM Argument 1: Malaysia is getting richer. Between 2009 and 2016, Gross National Income has increased by nearly 50 percent, and GNI per capita using the Atlas method increased to US$9,850, and based on the World Bank’s latest high income threshold of US$12,235 (during the planning stage, it was USD 15,000).

- With the current GNI of US$9,850 (2017) as opposed to US$6,700 (in 2010), an increase of about 50% was correct. Mr.PM did not lie.

- World Bank’s latest high income threshold of US$12,235 (previously, US$ 15,000 in 2010). Luckily, the goalpost seemed to come down rather substantially.

- So, if in the last 7 years, Najib had achieved only 50% of his target...it is highly unlikely, in the next 3 years, if he is still around, he will come any closer to his target.

- In plain language, Najib's ETP has failed!

6. Let's go back to where it all began in 2010. ETP had stated "60% of the blueprint's investment would derived from private sector, 32% from government linked companies and the remaining 8% from the government.

- only this year, we see sudden activities involving huge "investments" from China...which comes to nothing because China's OBOR is not about supporting "investments" in Malaysia's infrastructures...Wanda Group is a good example.

- the 32% from GLICs?...Tabung Haji buying small parcel of TRX land?....FGV IPO was a scam!...and, many more...with 1MDB as the biggest international scam ever!

7. Najib's ETP is in a real mess. He got "F"****d.

8. The biggest mess is created when our ringgit plunged 42% against the US dollar between 2011 and 2016...so, everything goes with it.

"For me, things have become better and better since Pak Lah's time. Went up much more when Najib became PM."

That statement must be true if Lee Watt was working in 4th. floor during the reign of Pak Lah's SIL. After Najib took over, there was no major cabinet reshuffle and its business as usual for them. Coupled with Najib's Cash is King policy, therefore, "Various business opportunities around for those willing to work hard", leewatting Rakyat's fortunes.

People like Lee Watt will support UMNO-Najib because these people had no qualms, soliciting dubious middlemen such as Razak Baginda, Deepak Carpet and Jho Low, in government dealings. That's why, everything the government or GLCs buys are way above market price. More astonishingly, they even sold Rakyat's assets for a song.A case in mind was Pak Lah selling MV Agusta for 1 Euro in 2005, when they bought it at 70 Million Euro in 2004.Another example is when 1MDB bought Rakyats primeland for RM60 psf when its market value was approximately, RM3600 psf.

Najib thinks he can pull wool over our eyes. He says he is determined to provide Malaysia with first class infrastructure. I think he is not saying the truth.

As I have said before, he is a master at practising dog whistle politics. He sends out coded message to his band of thieves. What he is really saying is, I want to do more projects so that we can steal more money. The ordinary Malay paisan will get his RM30 and a few loafs of Gardenia bread.They will shout , this is the best UMNO in history.

Can a person who stole RM3 million, tell a judge to give him time to return the money? He tells the judge, he can find another RM3 million to replace what he has stolen. If you give a person enough time, all problems will be solved. If the judge gives the person enough time, he can pay. How he gets the money is no concern to others. He may steal from someone else and replace the stolen.

In a businesslike solution, he can indeed replace every single sen that was stolen. To the unscrupulous businessman, this is all right because he has replaced the stolen money. But what about the crime of stealing? It is still a crime which must be punished. Otherwise we come to the ridiculous conclusion, that a crime can be forgiven, if it is fully compensated.

That is exactly what Najib is asking us, collectively his judge, to do. He asks us to give him time so he can carry out dastardly plans to replace the money he has stolen. The key word is, stolen. More than half of the 1MDB 50 billion was stolen, spirited away, stashed somewhere. So, given enough time, can the debts/pilferage accumulated by 1MDB be paid off? They can be. You see, the answer to the issue is not like the person who wrote everything can be recovered by just monetising all our assets and paying off 1MDB. Hell , we can monetise our future.

1MBB was not a legitimate business. It was an evil plan set up to steal money from the public. It was a giant ATM machine for some people to steal money and have the money replaced before anyone realise or know about it. Unfortunately we all did come to know about it.

We are not only interested in recovering the money but also to see the crime and criminal punished. We cant have a leader who steals lead the country.

Now, here is the puzzling thing-why would IPIC arranged for one of its company to buy out these fund units and then used the sales earnings to pay off the debt owed by 1MDB to IPIC?

So you see dear readers, Najib doesn’t care as long as he can cover the holes he dug. And so to the practical business analysts- we say, this whole business with 1MDB is not the dig hole-cover hole variety. It’s not using one credit card to pay off the other credit cards.

But that is not the point. The point is who gives authority to Najib to sell off our family heirloom so to speak? Nobody does. He has abused our trust. He has stolen from us. He has lied to us repeatedly. That is the issue. We have a leader who lied, stole money from us and cannot be trusted.

Why must we allow him to cover up his wrongdoings by giving him chance to monetise our assets?

That makes the leader of this nation an unscrupulous deal maker.

Where do we throw the basic ingredient behind a good government? which is, good government depends on good people.

Datuk,sorry cannot resist taking on this off subject matter which is generating a lot of concern about DPM.DPM said he saw the blue IC with the name Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty. Who gave this info to him, the NRD chief? Better potong his head because he has placed DPM under a terrible spotlight, like digging his own grave. Probably this fella is working for DPM's opposition within his own party.(not DAP, not Pakatan). They must be hugging themselves with joy.First, was the NRD chief authorised to reveal "any personal data" ? Second what was Zahid doing with a phone to his ear, like a tell tale? Didnt this chap Zahid also said earlier that he met the Saudi Arabian one of the Royal who donated RM2.6 billion to Najib? Totally now proven false by the US.It's karma time.

1. Launched in September 2010, Najib's Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) is a national economic plan which has gone through it's 7 years old cycle and it will end by 2020...another 3 years to go.

2. If Najib had wasted 7 good years to achieve 50% of its GNI target, we foresee, in all fairness that he will not be able to pull through anything significant in the next 3 years. Numbers don't lie.

3. thanks goodness, during the last 7 years, we did not experience hard landings, like the the Heng Seng crash in 1987-"Black Monday", the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the Kobe earthquake in Japan and the 2008 financial crisis in US...which led to bailouts, anxiety and loss of jobs...none of those...luckily, I would say, if not, Malaysia will be ruined under Najib.

4. even without those global crisis at hand, Malaysia is already in ruin...a wasted state...a failed state.

5. Najib is not a smart PM...the chair was given to him on a silver platter because of his pedigree, not so much on his ability to govern which went untested, except for his role as MB Pahang, even then not because of his inner ability.

6. Najib wasted 7 good years for Malaysia.

7. the end results speak for itself for men on the street:

> paying high taxation to pay national debts which is raising every single day, inching towards RM1 Trillion benchmark, sooner than later.

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has to pay US$602.725 million (RM2.58 billion) as part of its settlement agreement with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) today.

It is the first tranche of two due to IPIC. The remaining portion of US$602.725 million is due by the year end, according to a report in the Edge Financial Daily.

In total, 1MDB has to pay IPIC US$1.205 billion (RM5.16 billion) as part of the settlement agreement.

Being the guarantor, MoF will have to step in to meet any of 1MDB’s obligations if the fund fails to do so. (1)

- What is this?

- Why want to pay if 1MDB claimed that it had already made payment to IPIC's subsidiary, Aabar BVI (fake?)...ok, if the latter was fake, why not get Interpol to investigate that the money being stolen?...anybody would do that.

- Where is the money RM5.16 billion to pay IPIC coming from ?...on top of the RM840million to service the interest to be paid by end 2017?

1MDB?...profitable after spending RM600 million in CSRs' activities?...any assets to sell?

"KUALA LUMPUR: A close associate of Prime Minister Najib Razak has been charged in France over alleged kickbacks in the 2002 sale of submarines to his country, a judicial source told AFP today.

Abdul Razak Baginda advised Najib when the now-prime minister was defence minister between 2000 and 2008.

Najib oversaw the deal worth nearly €1 billion (US$1.18 billion) to buy two Scorpene-class submarines and one Agosta-class submarine from French naval dockyards unit DCN, which is linked to French defence group Thales.

An investigation into the deal was launched in 2010 in response to a complaint from Malaysian rights group Suaram.

As part of the deal, DCN agreed to pay €30 million to Thales’ Asian unit, Thales International Asia (Thint Asia).

The investigation revealed that another company, Terasasi, whose main shareholder was Razak, received an equivalent sum for what was billed as consultancy work, but which investigators believe was really a front for kickbacks.

Razak was charged in France on July 18 with “active and passive complicity in corruption” and “misappropriation of corporate assets”, the French judicial source said.

Four French defence industry executives have already been charged since the investigation began.

They are two former chairmen of DCNI, Philippe Japiot and Dominique Castellan, and two former heads of Thint Asia, Bernard Baiocco and Jean-Paul Perrier.

All four men deny the charges against them.

The French investigators are also looking into allegations that €114 million was paid to a purported Malaysia-based shell company, Perimekar, as part of the deal. That company was controlled at the time by Razak’s wife."

if this comes to court, then MO1's earlier career as a thief from Defence Ministry will be in the spotlight.

Transormation IS NOT designed to help the Rakyat, Datuk...but an economic plan to skin the Rakyat to the bone as Najib failed to find ways to generate new income. Needless to say, the finest example is in the making under the Employment Insurance System (EIS) scheme...was tabled for the first reading in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has questioned the rationale of collecting an estimated RM1.6 billion annually for the Employment Insurance System (EIS) or over 5 times the compensation for all workers retrenched in the Asian Financial Crisis.

- MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan based his calculations on contributions of 1 per cent from both the employer and employee (0.5 per cent each) for an average monthly salary of RM2,000 from 6.8 million private sector workers.

- This would amount to about RM1.6 billion a year, while he estimated that unemployment benefits for 50,000 Malaysian workers retrenched during the 1997 crisis would total RM300 million assuming that they received half-month wages based on a RM2,000 salary for six months.

- “So you collect RM1.6 billion per year, pay RM300 million a year, left with RM1.3 billion in your kitty for what?”

- “The government wants to portray that it’s a very affordable and cheap scheme, where the contribution only starts from 20 sen. This is bordering on ridiculousness. No employer would pay that kind of wages where the pay is RM30 a month,” he added.

- “But this EIS is forever, from day one you work until you retire.”

- "...When I retire and don’t want to work and I never collect anything from the scheme, give me back the money. Give some interest and dividend if you’re kind enough,” said Shamsuddin.

- The MEF head highlighted the lack of a risk impact assessment before the Bill was tabled in Parliament.

- “As far as the Human Resources Ministry is concerned, I would say there’s very little consultation done with the industry before this Bill was introduced,” he said.

- “Currently, employers are up against many challenges in trying to remain in business. This is something that they wouldn’t want to incur additional cost on.”

6. No wonder, people call you (Datuk Seri I Mappadulung Daeng Mattimung Karaeng Sandrobone Sultan Abdul Jalil) Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, not for nothing, except long name, but short on performance...hopefully, not that one.

1. Everyday, almost everyday, if not every other day, we are bombarded with new surprises under the pretext of this so called Transformation Plan...which looks good on paper and books...otherwise, none other than a piece of shit work.

2. In simple plain language, if one earns RM1, spend as much as RM1, preferably less, so much so, one can have little saving, little it may be, but, can be rather handy on rainy days, no matter if it's a PNB (referring to the RM40 billion retained profit) or "dalam tin Milo" or "bawah bantal", whatever.

3. That is called "amanah" for those officials entrusted with the day-to-day running of the largest corporation like PNB...and, of course, the current Government, specifically, as we all know, no matter how we try to like them, they just don't have "it".

4. Sadly today, we heard from the Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani that BN Government is issuing new bond...RM2.5 billion...not to create new jobs, but to finance our deficit...thus, worsening our national debts which will eventually, God's forbid, to the downgrading of our sovereign credit rating...impacting our ringgit as it will increase our cost of borrowing...and, eventually, increase our cost of living as most of our foods and materials are imported....quote...

"That bond has nothing to do with 1MDB. It is a normal government bond. Every year, we have a deficit budget and we need to finance government expenditure through bond issuance. That's it." (1)

6. Is there anything else that we do not know, Datuk?..that, on one fine day, when we woke up from our slumber, we find our plate has been emptied...and, our children and grandchildren has nothing, but paying someone's else debts!

7. Tell me if I am a pessimist, right on my face...give it to me, I want to know if I'm wrong...so I can tell my children and their children, that I am, but a fool.

About Me

I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).